Author's Note: Copy-Pasta'd notes from AO3. As usual, cross-posted from AO3 with alterations made to fit site formatting, etc.
The summary is, unfortunately, too long, so I have to do some rearranging to make everything fit. End notes can be skipped, if you don't care to know about that sort of thing, but the first chapter will always have the longest set of notes with very few exceptions. (More info can also be found in Scraps or on AO3.)
Title: And With A Single Beat
Story Summary:"—of a Butterfly's Wings, everything changed. Kagami Hoshika is an orphan. She doesn't particularly care about gender, and she's about as average as one could be considering her situation. Or, well, she would be if not for the strange dreams she thinks might be due to some kind of Kekkei Genkai —or maybe a mutated bloodline ability— because she's pretty sure she's not supposed to be seeing alternate worlds in her sleep."
Alternate Summary: "Kagami Hoshika is an orphan, one that prefers not to draw attention to herself if she can help it. All she wants is to graduate, earn some money, and then maybe buy some land to live a peaceful, quiet retirement on by herself. Maybe learn some agriculture so she can be more self-sufficient. Unfortunately, the Hokage's daughter's like a limpet that just attached herself one day and simply wouldn't let go. And her —apparently popular even at a young age— Uchiha Tag Along-slash-Best Friend/Possibly-Future-Boyfriend just draws even more attention to their little group. Which is kind of not good because she thinks she's getting attached to them, too."
Tags: Alternate Universe; Canon Divergence; Somewhat Slow Build; Naruto has a Big Sister; Itachi gets a different team; Technically Itachi/Naruko; Two Reoccuring/Main OCs; Pseudo-SI/OC; Sort of Fix-It; Kekkei Genkai/Bloodline Mutations; Sharingan/Doujutsu Mutation OC; A bit more character-centric than world build, really; Divergence actually begins around the Kannabi Bridge Arc; Major Branching AU; some world-building; Part of the "Reflections of Fate" or RoF!Verse;
Characters: Namikaze Minato, Uzumaki Kushina, Hatake Kakashi, [redacted for spoilers], OC (Uzumaki Kizuna), SI/OC (Kagami Hoshika), Uchiha Itachi, Uchiha Mikoto,
Warnings: This is not an actual reincarnation fic, despite the pseudo-SI/OC-insert; Slowbuild; Major Canon Divergences (especially at certain points); Naruto's older sister is basically Naruko with a different name; Pre-Kyuubi/Naruto but Post-Kannabi, etc.
In any case, enjoy!
Chapter 01: And With A Single Beat, It Begins...
aka: Arc 0 — Setting the Story, Part I (or: A Blonde, A Raven, And a Brunette...)
The day had started out like any other. Or, well, at least as far as it did in Konohagakure, anyways. The sun was shining, the ninja were ninja-ing, and the civilian folk were getting ready to greet the new day as usual.
Or, well, they had until Konoha's (infamously) nicknamed Bloody Red Habanero started yelling loudly enough that anyone within the village —oh, say...about a ten, no, twenty mile radius?— could hear.
"NAMIKAZE MINATO—! IF YOU DON'T GET YOUR BUTT BACK HERE RIGHT FUCKING NOW, I'M GOING TO DISMEMBER A VERY. IMPORTANT. PART. OF YOUR PRETTY BOY BODY BEFORE YOU CAN EVEN SCREAM, YOU COWARDLY BASTARD!"
Ninja and civilian alike paused in their day to day dealings, looking towards the source of the yell, before returning to their everyday bustle. Many of villagers winced in sympathy, wondering just what their poor leader had done to piss his wife off so badly, but still hoping that said woman didn't actually mean what they thought she meant.
(Several of the men, ninja who had once gone to school with said firecracker, immediately paled as they recalled events long past. A few even had flashbacks, a sudden if immense foreboding warning them to stay clear away from the pregnant and hormonal redhead. Something they did without a second thought, instincts screaming at them to get away. Even if it meant running like dogs with their tails tucked in until the woman's blatant blood-lust simmered down enough to stop inducing flashbacks.)
The infamous streak of yellow flashing by attracted some attention, but, that too, was quickly ignored.
(No one wanted to be on the other end of a pissed off and pregnant bloody habanero.)
Some even thought it was a figment of their imagination, as the S-Ranked threat to Iwa that had all but singlehandedly ended the Shinobi War...—pulled all stops to run away from his red-headed Uzumaki wife's rage.
Like a coward. (Then again, his wife was just as infamous, if not more so. If only for her explosive temper and a grudge she would gladly pay back seven-fold...at the very least.)
Back in the Hokage Tower, amongst a whirlwind of paperwork that had been left behind from his...retreat...one of the Yondaime's two remaining students winced in sympathy. Especially when said runaway Hokage immediately showed up again wearing a panicked look, cramming himself under his paperwork-laden desk just in time to avoid being spotted by an angry red-haired woman. One that had just shunshin'd into the room, the door slamming behind her as she growled. A practically visible cloak of ire hanging about her, the infamous Uzumaki locks created an illusion of bloody red tendrils waving in her ki.
Not spotting her target, she scowled.
"Kakashi, sweetie, have you seen Minato…?" She asked, a saccharine tone that threatened a bloody, painful murder if she didn't get an answer. The silver-haired, single-eyed young ninja just stared at her with wide eyes, vigorously shaking his head in response as he shot a mental prayer to the heavens.
Sweat beaded on both his, and his teacher's, back as they tried not to get the blonde maimed. Kushina-san would calm down eventually (or break into frustrated tears) when she didn't find him... —And hopefully not actually be angry enough to pull off her threat.
(They kind of still needed their Hokage, after all.)
(Said Hokage, however, continued to hold his breath, heart beating frantically as he prayed the chakra and presence suppressing seals he'd feverishly created —especially after the last time her hormones had tipped her into 'raging bull with no care of or for consequences' mode...otherwise known as the Uzumaki Berserker Mode— for this very reason.)
Kushina just gave an irritated sigh, giving the silver haired scarecrow a sharp nod before stepping out. A half-stomp and half-shunshin that should have been impossible following herself and the deadly ki that saturated the air around her as she left.
Kakashi just released the breath he'd been holding, an exhalation shared by all three of the remaining members in the room.
"I...should probably make sure she doesn't hurt herself," Rin sighed, clearly anxious if the nervous way she was acting was any indication. Kushina was still pregnant after all (even if many didn't know about that part just yet).
Minato, having crawled out from under the woodwork (and quite literally), just nodded wearily.
"Please," he agreed, shooting the brunette an apologetic look as she wilted. Medic-Nin in training or not (Obito's death had left a mark on more than just her silver-haired teammate if the dedication she'd put to learning the healing arts was any clue), Kushina was still a very scary woman...let alone a kunoichi. But unfortunately, the rest of the hospital staff —and those in the know, at that— would no doubt be too afraid to risk Kushina-sama's wrath.
Which left only the healer of her husband's team to trail after her.
Kakashi didn't even bother to look at Minato, just grimacing as reassuringly as he could to Rin. "I don't think she'll do more than snap at you at worst," he offered awkwardly. He'd at least tried to talk to his remaining teammate after Obito's death, but…
Well, it wasn't as if the genius had ever been any good at socializing. He'd yet to start forming habits similar to Obito's, what with Minato and Rin still there to anchor him, but...
Minato-sensei's smile was definitely a lot more reassuring, Rin thought, not even blushing despite the fact that her one-time crush (one that had started dying the moment Obito's life had) had deemed to even try to comfort her. Of course, said smile by the blue-eyed man was also tired, but as he wiped a hand over his face, she just nodded.
"I'll do my best then." Still somewhat apprehensive, but not wanting to risk Kushina-sama's health just because she was a bit leery, she nodded to Kakashi and her sensei before leaving from an open window.
If what she'd caught of her mutterings as she'd left earlier were true, the woman had likely either gone to the main Uchiha Compound to enlist her best friend, or had gone husband-hunting around the training grounds.
Minato just sighed wryly, his "thanks," barely slipping out fast enough for the kunoichi to catch as she shot off, dashing over rooftops in the direction she could sense her Sensei's spouse.
(Minato was very, very lucky that Kushina had too much chakra to do 'delicate' work...including pinpoint chakra sensing, though that unfortunately came with the downside of not being able to use iryojutsu...even if her Uzumaki vitality allowed her to heal a little quicker than most could, anyway.)
Collapsing into his seat, he let himself fall back against the surprisingly cushy chair before giving his student a grin. "Thanks for not ratting me out," he said, only half jokingly as he tried to remember exactly what it was that had set her off. (A bit harder to do with pregnancy hormones wreaking even more havoc, but Minato wasn't a genius for nothing... He'd figure it out soon...or someone would tell him.)
Kakashi simply shrugged, deadpanning. "Better than having to convict the Hokage's wife for committing Mariticide," tone flat yet somehow conveying a slight, if morbid, sense of humor. "...What exactly did you do to set her off, anyway?" he asked, his idle tone doing nothing to his feelings. Not from his sensei, anyway.
Luckily for the both of them, Minato had run through all the things he'd done before managing to figure out what it was he could have possibly done to piss her off so bad.
"...I think I might've eaten the last of that dango she was saving from Tea Country," he mused sheepishly. Though in his defense, he'd been tired and hadn't even realized what he'd been eating until now. Dango pretty much all looked and tasted the same to him (though there was probably at least one other kunoichi that would murder him if he said so loud...along with a certain academy student). Of course, Kushina probably wouldn't care about that, even if there hadn't really been much else he could eat on the go in the fridge.
He probably should've just bought something on the way to work instead, no matter how hungry and exhausted he'd been.
Kakashi winced.
"Ah," was his only response. His lack of admonishment and nonverbal sympathy —Maybe his wayward and anti-social student was finally learning how to socialize like a normal person!— something that Minato could only be grateful for as they lapsed into a semi-comfortable silence. One in which Minato would pretend that he had not just hidden within the emergency seals under his own desk just to get away from his wife.
Nope, not at all. Nuh-uh, don't know what any of you could be talking about.
After a while, though, Kakashi spoke up again, clearly dubious if concerned about something.
"...Still…"
"Yes, Kakashi…?" curious about what his student might still have to say after such a long silence (in which he'd started doing paperwork again), he looked up.
"...Is it really smart to let her simmer like that, Sensei…?"
Minato nearly faulted.
On second thought…
Elsewhere, not too far from the Tower on Academy grounds, three kids paused in their training as a certain redhead's rage-filled threat echoed through the town.
All three were young for their placement, but that hadn't stopped any of them from doing their best and excelling in their learning. They were all considered prodigies in some way or another, after all. Even if it was different kinds of 'prodigious'.
Of the trio of children, the one that stood out the most was definitely the adorable if energetic —and somewhat quirky— strawberry (or rather, blonde with the occasional strand of bloody red) blonde with twintails.
Dressed in maneuverable short-shorts (or, perhaps technically short skorts, considering the skirt-like portion of it), a matching tracksuit jacket that ended midriff, and a bright red shirt underneath, perhaps the only impractical part of it...was the fact that said jacket and sports skorts were in the difficult to wash color of...white.
Of course, all three of the children wore the standard shinobi sandals over bandage wrapped feet. Especially considering their footwear had been purchased in a slightly larger size just to 'be on the safe side' considering the fact that they were still very much growing children.
They did, however, sport different color schemes. The blonde, having chosen mostly red and white clothing with the occasional blue (navy, to be exact), such as sandals, hair ties, and basically any non-metal ninja accessories. Across from said blonde was a slightly older boy with long black hair. He, too, kept to a simple color scheme —mostly of black and white, with a familiar black high-collared shirt and white shorts that fell to his knees; straight, mid-length black hair tied into a short ponytail at his nape.
Said boy was frowning, as the duo paused in the midst of exchanging strikes in their practice spar.
"...Was that…?" he started, calm countenance marred only by the slight downward tilt of his lips as they all stared in the direction of the scream, before exchanging looks.
The blonde nodded knowingly, "Yeah. I think Mom found out that Dad finished her Tea Country Dango." Pausing, she seemed to contemplate something, tilting her head to the side for a bit before tacking on, "Again."
The third of their trio, a child with short, chocolate hair ending at the nape (ironically, the most boyish looking, considering Itachi's longer hair and porcelain face, though the three were all somewhat slimmer than the average civilian child due to their shinobi training) expelled a huff-like breath.
"Of course he did," the girl mused, tomboyish appearance belying their otherwise Aburame or even Nara-like countenance (pity she wasn't actually related to either of those clans. At least, not directly, or else she wouldn't have been stuck at the orphanage as long as she had). "You'd think Yondaime-sama would have learned by now, wouldn't you?" A slight twitch of the lip was the only obvious sign of amusement despite her drawling tone.
Kagami Hoshika was an orphan, but that didn't seem to truly bother her. Of the group, she was also the eldest, though she didn't lose to the others in intellect, at least.
(Or rather, she worked hard enough to make up for it, anyway. Not like she really minded reading, after all. And with both parents having been of shinobi descent, she had a good sized pool of chakra, despite the fact it wasn't nearly the size of her compatriots'. That was fine, though. It just meant better chakra control, though she did take care to practice enough to try expand her otherwise limited pool at a nice rate. )
Perhaps that was why the three had all but been grouped together. Despite how unorthodox it was, it was very likely the three would end up on a team. Partially to keep the rest of the teams balanced, while putting like with like to avoid the potential disaster of putting 'prodigies' (though Itachi and Hoshika both seemed to hate the word, unlike their Uzumaki/Namikaze friend who simply took it in stride. She wasn't bothered by what 'most people' tended to think, after all) on a team with others that could very well resent them.
(Well, that, and as Hokage, if Minato chose to give preference to his daughter's wishes, then it was entirely in his right to do so...even if it was only mainly in part due to his wife's insistence.)
Itachi chuckled in response, even while their blonde companion grinned.
"Yeah, you would think," she agreed. "Especially considering that dad's the freaking Hokage," she half-joked, a grin on her face as she folded her arms behind her head with a sigh. "He is supposed to be the best ninja the village has to offer, after all~"
The others could only nod in agreement. Grey, Black, and Aquamarine orbs exchanging amused looks as their lips tilted again in amusement.
"Indeed true, Kizuna-kun," Itachi agreed. His words accompanied by a musing hum, as childish hands stuffed themselves into the pockets of a somewhat over-sized, if comfy, open zip-up hoodie. One worn over a dark, sleeveless turtleneck and drab, olive grey cargo's. (Needless to say, she definitely looked to most boyish of the three.)
Itachi's use of the '-kun' suffix for close friends (in part due to Kizuna all but throwing a tantrum over the boy being so 'formal' considering how close they were...along with the fact that she apparently had some sort of grudge with...someone —a certain toad-summoning pervert hermit— that had made her dislike the use of '-chan' in conjunction with her name… Something that apparently made her react 'very much like a certain "bloody habanero" ' as apparently was muttered by often shuddering adults), always seemed to amuse her.
The girl's threat of a 'painful, bloody death' to those that dared to use it after being warned the first day of school (with few exceptions), had drawn all sorts of consternation until she'd actually beaten a kid up (thankfully during sparring class, though the Chuunin-sensei had had to drag her off the victim by the end). The only ones who could apparently get away with using the suffix were close and/or immediate family (except, again, a certain unfortunate teacher of her dear, doting daddy, that was).
Mostly because it wasn't like she could get away with or make her parents do anything they didn't want to. (And also, the threat of —gasp— ramen reduction! It was seriously, way too horrifying and cruel a punishment for the girl to dare even bring it up. Especially after seeing the smile on her mother's face.) Just the thought was enough to make her shudder, and not just because of the consequences.
("I carried you inside me for over nine months, sweetheart." A razor wire grin. "I brought you into this world, so I can call you whatever the hell I want to, dattebane—!" "...What your mother said," her father had added apologetically. It was clear who wore the real pants in the family...or rather, daddy was just whipped when it came to her mom, she'd realized.)
Needless to say, having watched Itachi flounder until he got used to calling her '-kun' (though ironically, she didn't think the other girl would actually mind being called 'Kizuna-chan' by the two of them if they really wanted to, considering how close they were now), had been absolutely hilarious.
Kizuna —like her mother...and even at times her father, ironically enough— had the tendency to somehow, some way, manage to get what she wanted (for the most part, anyways). Her determination, will, and ability to simply bulldoze her way out of —and at times, into— situations had been both absolutely amusing as well as exasperating to the girl who'd found herself assimilated into the now-trio within days of the (slightly) younger duo joining her class.
After all, she had been one of the few who hadn't actually minded, or rather, had probably been the only one uncaring enough to not bother 'sucking up' to the two children of affluential families (the Hokage's daughter, and the next Uchiha heir. As in, the next to become head of one of the major and founding clans of the village. Both were high profile enough as it was), let alone having child geniuses in her class —though she technically, apparently, counted as one herself, even if she hadn't decided to skip the year as they had…
If only because her 'civilian', or rather, orphanage, upbringing had excluded her from some of the shinobi tricks and learning that they covered in the classes. There were several people who had thought she might have Nara blood, though her hospital records proved otherwise...though it was possible that it was simply diluted enough that it no longer registered. And the clan she did technically have relations to —if diluted by the rest of her blood line— wasn't exactly been fond of 'outsiders', and with how diluted her blood was to that clan and the fact she didn't have their kekkei genkai, she'd have just been a pariah for most there anyways. If they even deemed to accept her as one of them, so she was really better off where she was now.
Either way, she'd been polite and relatively friendly, helped answer any questions (that she could, anyways), hadn't tried to brown nose, and had treated them like anyone else. Which had apparently been enough for the blonde to 'take a shine' to her and all but demand that she 'be her friend now, too!'
(Itachi's look of constipation had been just as equally hilarious as his struggle not to be 'overly polite', to be honest. Though, at that point, he and Kizuna —despite having been playmates and knowing each other for years— apparently hadn't known the other so well despite being friends. Something about their mothers being friends, but Itachi being too polite and a stick in the mud until the other girl had finally exploded and pretty much forced him to call her '-kun'...on top of ironically fitting yet clashing personalities.)
(Not to mention Kizuna's form of 'positive reinforcement' being a certain hard jab to the side whenever the boy had shown even the slightest sign of calling her '-san'. Needless to say, being the genius that he was, Itachi learned —very quickly— not to be so formal with the blonde, though had still occasionally slipped despite his best efforts.
(The blonde's conditioning had worked, though. Her Uzumaki Vitality apparently also making her stronger than the average kid even without the chakra enhancement...of which she had in spades to pull on if she even wanted to consider it.)
Of course, catching sight of the girl's amusement, Kizuna pouted. "Geez, Ho-shi-ka~!" she huffed, only half whining at the (entirely) unrepentant look on her friend's face.
Holding back a smirk, she gave the other a mild look, raising a single brow as her (only) female friend grumbled.
"Yes, Kizuna?" Waiting for the other to say something, she let the smirk twitch into place when other simply proceeded to huff and sulk even more.
"...Nothin'..." she muttered, barely resisting the use of what was apparently an inherited verbal tick (mom always got upset, so she'd made herself learn to internalize it instead...not that it always worked) as she shot her other best friend a look.
Hoshika just tried not to snicker, seeing Itachi's own look of amusement before getting a devious idea.
"Alright, alright. I'll buy you one bowl of ramen if you can beat Uchiha," she teased, sincere in her promise as she inwardly snickered at Itachi's suddenly dour look. Kizuna, on the other hand, had done a one-eighty, expression excited as she straightened, practically bouncing in place she was so ready!
"Yatta~! Ramen!" She grinned. Not surprising considering that bother of her parents were pretty much ramen addicts as well. So the fact that the blonde had inherited that love for the food was all but expected, though it still amazed her how much the other could put away considering her size. She wasn't quite petite —not compared to how, ironically, slender Itachi was— though she was shorter than both Hoshika and Itachi. Her form, quite ironically, similar to her father's considering how girly he had apparently been as a child.
"But make it two!" Kizuna exclaimed brightly, throwing herself into the spar, "Ichiraku Ramen, of course!"
Not surprising considering how much she could put away, though she was still being understanding of the fact that Hoshika didn't really get too much on the orphan's stipend she got from signing up for —and continuing at— the Academy.
Of course, she did get a slightly higher stipend thanks to keep up with her grades —the Fourth had altered the law, so that the kids would have the incentive to work harder. Especially since he knew how it felt, having been an orphan, himself, genius or not— along with the apartment than all the Academy Orphans got when they signed up.
It would only be until she graduated, after which she'd have a month or two before her financial aid was cut off. Then she had to either earn enough for her own place or rank up to Chuunin as quickly as possible, after which she'd definitely have more income.
Not to mention that certain apartments and real estate businesses offered discounts for Active and/or Retired Shinobi.
Of course, Hoshika had her own plans —or maybe a dream...no, a goal?
She wanted to earn enough to buy her own plot of land. One that she could, preferably, live off of and be self-sufficient with for the most part.
Buying land would, as expected, be rather expensive. And it wasn't like one could just sign up to become a clan with only one member (being the last of a clan was different from making a clan of one, after all). Though there were perks to having a bloodline and starting a clan, there were also some rather rigid standards for the very same reason.
And for one that was as useless as hers? Well, for one, she didn't really feel comfortable with becoming what would basically amount to either being breeding stock or experimental bloodline breeding (there were so, so many ways that could possibly go wrong...not to mention that, as someone who hadn't even hit puberty yet the thought of having sex and/or making babies was possibly the absolute farthest thought from anything she might even consider doing).
She'd read books, ones that explained the danger as well as how very many different ways things could go wrong.
Besides, her bloodline was useless anyways, so she didn't think it'd really matter. (Boosted brain development as a side effect, aside. Which, y'know, the Nara already kinda had.)
"Okay, but only if you win," Hoshika said after a while, shaking herself from distraction as she watched the Uchiha internally curse (the three knew each other well enough to be able tell by this point) with amusement. She had saved up enough to be able a splurge a little, so getting four bowls of ramen wouldn't be too much of an issue.
—Of course, the extra two bowls being for Itachi and herself. A peace-offering, as it were. Itachi was beyond picky when it came to his favorite sweets, so she wouldn't bother trying to find something he'd like, considering how often his cravings for sweets changed. (Dango seemed to be his favorite, but there was apparently a specific place that he exclusively purchased from, and they had yet to visit as a group, so she wouldn't know where it was anyway.)
Besides, it would just be rude of her not to at least offer, considering she had just set the most physically inclined of the group after him. And no doubt the other would be accompanying them for the meal, anyway, just as he always did. Though, that did give a rather amusing idea...possibly a way to make things even, or else pacify the Uchiha heir, anyway.
Dango as a prize would definitely give him at least some motivation to try to beat their blonde friend.
Hoshika, herself, wasn't so fond of sweets even if she had a fondness for tea, so she'd be rooting for Kizuna, though. Not that she would mind either way, since it was more for fun than anything. She wasn't particularly picky, and being an orphan, she just wasn't quite used to junk food or strongly flavored things. Especially when sugar wasn't exactly a necessity, and was more something to indulge in.
It didn't particularly do much, aside from a slight rush, after all. (And yeah, brain sugar, but fruit were healthier and could do the exact same thing...some veggies, as well.)
Still, she didn't really care about what or where they dined as long as it was within her budget. Healthy and at least somewhat balanced food was a preference, of course, but tea houses should have options other than just sweets...right?
Though, even if it weren't the case, she supposed indulging every once in a while wasn't a bad thing, either.
Regardless, she simply enjoyed the friendly company. Social eating wasn't so bad, considering that at least two meals a day were usually spend alone in the solitude of her minimally furnished apartment.
Honestly, the room with the most things in it would probably be the kitchen, where all the foodstuff was kept. Body wash and hair care in the bathroom, and maybe a writing desk and a futon in her room.
There was also technically a living room area, but aside from a carpet...well, it wasn't really meant for guests, though she had managed to find a shelf. There was a potted plant and a few books on it, but that was it. She hadn't been kidding when she'd said the kitchen was the most furnished.
Some attempts at (edible) horticulture, some stools for the kitchen counter, and a set of dishes and utensils outside of groceries, a rice cooker, and the minimal necessities for cooking. She was typically as frugal as she could be, with few exceptions. Possibly the only potential 'waste' was the horticulture, since it did take some trial and error before she figured out how to grow them properly, and herbs and seasonings were a bit more on the expensive side. (It took time and water to grow, too, though there was some natural lighting to help, at least.)
Probably why she tended to use them sparingly, if she could. Food didn't need to be heavily seasoned to taste good, anyway.
Still, considering that she was living alone in a single bed-and-bath apartment with a storage (or den, whatever you wanted to call it), and an open space that served as a sitting area —if she actually had something other than cushions to sit on, or had a coffee table, anyway— she liked to think she was doing pretty well.
The Shinobi supplies were relatively inexpensive (discounted, thanks to orphan welfare), and the Academy provided most of the texts along with some of the practice supplies —though those had to be returned within a certain time frame, of course. Sort of like a library and checking things out, in a way.
Most of the Academy students preferred to have their own sets, though, considering how used the Academy's were. And they did all get a set of blunt kunai, even if wasn't very many.
(Around eight or ten per set, kunai and shuriken-wise. Basically, you either got eight kunai and ten shuriken, or vice versa. Personally, she'd gotten the eight and ten set, rather than the ten and eight, since shuriken were a bit more difficult to use and she needed more practice with. There were different kinds of kunai, so she could borrow an Academy set, but shuriken only had one shape, though the kit each orphan got only had the standard, and they'd have to either buy actual kunai later anyway, or take the time to try to sharpen the blunt weapons into something other than a blunt projectile. Shuriken, however, were meant more for distractions, so being blunt didn't particularly matter, unless you were really, really accurate with your projectiles. Most people didn't use them anyways, because they were so finicky to handle. Though, they were a good precursor to Fuuma Shuriken, which...didn't really work the same, aside from working on a similar trajectory.)
Either way, it didn't really matter. The fact was, that, though somewhat troublesome, as long as she kept to her budget and kept her grades up (which basically mostly meant extra training and studying or doing homework on her own time), there were really more perks than downsides to her situation as it was.
Even if she was an orphan, she at least knew she had ninja parents —not uncommon, honestly speaking. It wasn't the norm, per say, but at least three out of ten orphans had ninja lineage, so there was that. And there was nothing saying a civilian couldn't work up to being a ninja, even if meant working double —or even triply— as hard as those with shinobi genes, considering that they tended to have larger chakra pools compared to civilians who, well, didn't use it, and so didn't.
Still, it was possible to train and expand one's chakra enough to at least survive, maybe even thrive, as a ninja if one worked hard at it. The Academy started early for a reason, after all. Children were the best at learning and adapting, which included chakra coils and pool increase. It was only once they were past a certain age that that window of optimal learning and expansion would end, making it even harder to do so. It was just how the human body worked, after all.
It was why civilians tended to stagnate, chakra pool wise, and why the Academy only accepted children within a certain age range. But that was something to discuss for another time.
For now, she had a match to watch and friend to cheer (and possibly goad) on.
She had a feeling that Kizuna would still win, though. If only out of brute force and determination. Itachi was really too gentle to want to hurt anyone, so ended up holding back. Even if it sometimes meant being beaten by the human projectile named Uzumaki-Namikaze Kizuna. Especially when it was determined Kizuna, she mused, wincing slightly as Itachi had the breath, quite literally, knocked out of him. Laying on the ground for a few moments before raising an arm and announcing his forfeit.
(She'd really have to make it up to him, then. Even if it was just with a bowl of ramen, rather than his beloved Dango.)
Ending Notes: (Starting Notes from AO3) I was heading back after some testing when I suddenly remembered this story. This is actually a pretty old idea I had —though not quite as old as some of the others, really— that I actually had sitting in my docs/gmail drafts. And since I needed a distraction for the ridiculous migraine I had, I decided to dig through my docs for the original story notes and chapters I had.
Upon realizing that I could —probably— actually work with it, I decided to rewrite the entire story, though I will still keep to the general ideas I'd noted for this series. (I have about 9-10 'main' arcs for this story, like, no lie. And that's not even considering another potential two arcs that occur. So basically 12 or so arcs, and all before Boruto was even a spark in Kishimoto-san's eye, let alone Naruto becoming hokage…)
A note of warning, though: As you can probably surmise from the tags (and the story so far), this story does have OCs in it. Two of which will be main players —one Uzumaki Kizuna; who is technically, basically an older, if earlier conceived Naruko, which isn't exactly something I think the two would name their kid. I feel like they would be a bit more creative and name whatever son they have Naruto, and their daughter something else...hence Kizuna. I think I read a story somewhere where they used it as their female Naruto's name, which I actually really liked. Especially since it means 'bonds' and sounds suitable close if different to "Kushina" that I can see Minato, the dork, coming up with it. And Kagami Hoshika, who isn't quite but may still technically count as an SI due to her 'supposedly useless' Kekkei Genkai, considering that there are a few major factors that don't match, meaning most of it is useless, even if she doesn't what part of it is. (She rightfully, and logically, assumes that people would think she was just crazy if she just up and started talking about potential futures and alternate worlds, after all.)
Also, IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER FOR THIS AU: This story is already canon divergent, starting from (around) Kannabi Bridge, since that's around when Itachi and Naruko/Kizuna were born. There are a few other things, but that's kind of spoilers. You'll see when we get to it though. Oh, yeah, this starts pre-Kyuubi/Main Canon timeline, as well. (Sasuke, Naruto, and the rest of Rookie nine and their generation haven't even been born yet, after all.)
Anyways, Disclaimers: I don't own Naruto, only some artistic license and the idea for this fic. (Like, seriously, this whole thing was inspired by one really loopy and kind of weird dream I had a long time ago, also when I started plotting this AU because the pitspawned plunnies wouldn't go away and continued to multiply like fucking rabbits. Pun intended.)
This story was entirely inspired by a really, really weird dream I had one day (night?), though all I can remember of it now was Team 7 and the other rookies trying to escape some enemies, somehow ending up at the airport where Fugaku was head of security, Itachi and Naruko/Kizuna sending the kids to find their old teammate who'd retired young so she could buy a plot of land and live a secluded and self-sufficient life using her ninja skills to sort-of-cheat and farm. There was more, but I can't really remember the details, honestly.
Finally, I apologize if there are any mistakes when this is posted. I do have a tendency to revise before/when I post new chapters, so there's that, at least. That's really —literally— probably the longest note this series will have, so apologies for the wall of text, and rest assured that this amount of exposition is very, very unlikely to happen again.
End of Chapter Summary/Notation: It's a typical day in the Village of Konohagakure. The Sun is Shining, The Ninja are being typical Ninja, The Students are Studying Diligently in School, and the Hokage's pregnant wife is threatening her husband with bloody murd—er, wait, what?
